Debt Relief Notice – How Will it Work ?

Under legislation due to come into force in Ireland in 2013 – A Debt Relief Notice or DRN will provide an alternative to bankruptcy and will help you deal with certain types of debt if you :

do not own your home

have very little spare income

have little chance of your financial situation improving

These notices will be issued by a new body called the Insolvency Service and once you have one it means that :

your creditors (people you owe money to ) can’t take any action to recover their money.

you are not allowed to make any payments towards your debts

you will be discharged (freed) from your debts when the DRN ends – after 3 years.

A DRN can be amended or cancelled if your financial situation improves.

To get a Debt Relief Notice you must:
* owe less than €20,000
* have less than €60 a month spare income – after paying essential bills like rent or food
* have less than €400 worth of assets – (not including motor vehicles worth less than €1200)
* not have applied for a DRN in the last six years

An application for a Debt Relief Notice by a debtor must be done through an an approved intermediary . Details of approved intermediaries will be made public. MABS will be providing this service .

More information to follow when these DRNs are available on how to apply.